Neil Golub receives top industry honor

Price Chopper Supermarkets’ Executive Chairman Neil Golub has received the Sidney R. Rabb Award, the highest honor presented by the Food Marketing Institute, recognizing his statesmanship and community service. The award was presented at the institute’s midwinter executive conference in Phoenix.

Among Golub’s achievements the award recognizes are the revitalization of downtown Schenectady, where the grocer opened its new headquarters, and where Golub helped develop Schenectady 2000 and in the creation of the Schenectady County Metroplex Development Authority.

“Neil was influential in recruiting companies to bring business and jobs to Schenectady, as well as raising money for major community projects,” said Metroplex Chair Ray Gillen. “Thus far, Metroplex has received more than $800 million in investments.”

Of the new headquarters, built on a brownfield site and meeting standards that qualified it for gold status under the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program, Gillen observed that “Neil literally grew a green building in a brown field.”

Golub and his wife Jane also were recognized for their philanthropy, working with the Anti-Defamation League nationwide to help mitigate bullying, cyber bullying and bigotry in schools. They’ve also supported the United Way, Special Olympics and the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, and Neil Golub over the past 21 years supporting the Double H Ranch founded by Paul Newman for children and families dealing with life-threatening illness.

He has also co-anchored the Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Association telethon in the Capital Region for the past three decades.

“Neil Golub and Price Chopper are a modern version of the founding entrepreneurial family that has put Neil in a position to contribute tremendously to the industry,” said Robert Bartels, chairman of Martin’s Supermarkets and a long-time friend of Golub.

“Neil is the go-to person when someone is in need — and he doesn’t just throw money around — he exhibits emotional commitment as well as financial,” said Matthew Cutler, Golub’s rabbi. “Neil genuinely cares about those he works with and for; he is adamant about employee health and well-being, and the health and well-being of everyone around him.”